UNITED NATIONS, Dec 24 (NNN-XINHUA) — Abdulla Shahid, president of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly, said that he has tested positive for COVID-19 and is self-isolating.
“I have tested positive for COVID19 today. I am isolating at home with mild symptoms,” Shahid tweeted. “I was privileged to have been fully vaccinated including a booster. My prayers are with the millions suffering from Covid and the billions without access to vaccine! I Stand for #VaccineEquity,” read the tweet.
In June, he was overwhelmingly elected as the President of the United Nations General Assembly, garnering 143 votes out of the 191 ballots cast.
After his election, Shahid had said that his “immediate priority” will be recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and working to ensure “vaccine equity” to restore hope from a year characterised by “disease, despair and devastation.”
Shahid had succeeded Turkish diplomat Volkan Bozkir who was UNGA President for the 75th session that came amid the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic.
The President of the General Assembly is elected every year by a secret ballot and requires a simple majority vote of the General Assembly. — NNN-XINHUA
